URI Educator to star on Sesame Street

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) - An educator at the University of Rhode Island is starring on Sesame Street .

Sara Sweetman is the director of education for URI's Guiding Education in Math and Science Network.

Sweetman also works with the cast and crew of Sesame Street to help guide the show's science, technology, engineering and math segments.

One day she was on set in New York, when a producer asked her to jump into a scene. Next thing Sweetman knew, she was having on-camera conversations with Murray the Muppet and a group of children from New York public schools.

Sweetman and the students didn't even work with scripts. The producers wanted Murray the Muppet, the children, and Sweetman to act naturally while shooting the actual science experiments.

Here's the schedule for the shows that feature Sweetman on Rhode Island PBS :

• "The Bubble Fest," Jan. 18, 2012 at 7 a.m.
• "Elmo and the Monarch Butterfly," Oct. 31, Dec. 7 and Feb. 9, 2012 at 7 a.m.
• "Falling Leaves," Jan. 2, 2012 and Feb. 21 at 7 a.m.